â€śThe new staging will be cozy and intimate, using all corners at the No Exit. The biggest change is bringing the audience on stage and creating an arrangement where the entire audience is part of the performance, so they can sing and dance along in the spirit of the old piano bar scenes.â€ť

Sarah Hayes, Eric Lindahl and Eric Martin

Dancing? Yep. Even though this is billed as a revue, the movement is liquid, innovative, energetic and just right for the lyrics. The choreographer
David Heimann explains:

â€śI tried to capture the spirit of the great dance numbers of
Judy Garland and
Groucho Marx and pay homage to them.â€ť

Sarah Hayes and Eric Lindahl

Here's how Musical Director and accompanist
Steve Carson puts it:

"I love this music. And, I fell in love with
Harold Arlen's music as soon as I learned about him. The cabaret style of singing is, or should be, more improvisational, so the interpretation of the songs by the singers can be new every night based on what they are feeling in that moment. Because Iâ€™m always listening to them, I can compliment what they are trying to get across by adjusting my playing, changing my style and looking for new musical ideas to support them."

More than once during our evening of musical magic--in which, not incidentally, I understood
every word!--we were surprised by subtle but telling new slants on a lyric and one big, risky co-mingling of two very different songs. You need to be there...

Arlenâ€™s songs were made famous by legends in the industry, such as
Judy Garland with
â€śOver the Rainbowâ€ť and
Ethel Waters and
Lena Horne with
â€śStormy Weather.â€ť He also wrote with nearly every famous lyricist from
Ted Koehler, Johnny Mercer and
Ira Gershwin to even
Truman Capote late in his career.

â€śItâ€™s happy music, but also emotional or soulful. The older generations can come and reminisce, while the younger generations can be introduced to Harold Arlenâ€™s body of work,â€ť
Anzevino said.

The singers, three women and three men, are:
Sarah Hayes, Stephanie Herman, Bethany Thomas, Eric Lindahl, Eric Martin and Kristofer Simmons each of whom is charming, complicated, versatile and accomplished.

Director
Anzevino knows pacing.
"Blues in the Night" by the
ensemble begins the show with a wallop. But nothing could have prepared
us for the incredible arrangement of
"Over the Rainbow" at the end.
It's like hearing it for the first time.

Theo Ubiqueâ€™s information line is 773-347-1109, where updated theatre and show information are available. The emergency phone number to the box office, available at 5 p.m. on performance nights, is 312-898-0672.